Example Writing Argument Essay Middle School

Writing essay for middle school is the base for an essay on school in higher grades. These middle school essay topics can cover one to five paragraphs, so they don’t need to be too long.

Middle school essay examples include a variety of short essays such as narrative, persuasive and analytical. The middle school essay format is simple and fairly easy to work with on each of these styles.

To write a middle school essay outline the first step is to identify the type of essay you need to write. Usually Middle school essays topics are designed to focus very specifically on a single story or to delve into one particular topic.

The most common type of essay for middle school s usually 5 paragraph essay. Like most essay structures, the 5 paragraph essay uses an introduction, a body and a conclusion. It’s a nice, easy essay format to follow and allows students to focus on the topic they are writing about.

The Introduction

Your introduction is where you present what the middle school essay is about. The introduction will contain a thesis statement. A thesis statement or essay hook is usually one sentence that summarizes the main point of the essay.

The Body

The majority of the content will be contained in the body. In the 5 paragraph essay, the body is three paragraphs long. Each paragraph includes one supporting point that provides more information or proof about your thesis statement.

Transition each paragraph in the body into the next. Transition words work well for this and middle school essays are the perfect place for students to practice using their transitions and making sure the essay is easily read.

The Conclusion

The conclusion of a short essay should be the most memorable part for a reader. In the conclusion, you summarize the main points of the essay. The conclusion can summarize the introduction or thesis statement by rewording it.

Finally, before turning the middle school essay in, you should proofread it and correct any errors in grammar, spelling and readability.

When I started my first job as a professional newspaper reporter (This job also served as an internship during my junior year in college — I just didn’t leave for about 6 years.), I quickly realized that all my experience, and all my years of journalism education had not been enough to help me write stories about drug busts, fatal car accidents and tornadoes. All the theoretical work I’d done, and all of the nifty little scholastic and collegiate stories I had done, did not prepare me for real world writing.

At that point, I had to find a solution quickly. After all, I had a deadline to meet, and it was only a few hours away.

One of my colleagues, who also served as a mentor, had the solution. She introduced me to the newspaper’s “morgue.” This was a room filled with filing cabinets in which we kept old — dead — stories arranged by reporter. Whenever I wasn’t’ sure how to write a story, all I had to do was check the morgue for similar stories. If I needed to write a story about a local drug bust, for example, I’d find another story on a similar incident, study its structure, and mentally create a formula in which to plugin the information I’d gathered.

Once I’d gained more experience, and had internalized the formula for that particular type of story, I felt free to branch out as the situation — and my training — warranted.

I do the same thing when I want to write a type of letter, brochure, or report that I’ve never written before.

This is what writing looks like in the real world.

Research by “Write Like This” author Kelly Gallagher indicates that if we want students to grow as writers, we need to provide them with good writing to read, study, and emulate. My personal experience backs this up, as does the old adage “all writing is rewriting,” oft quoted by everyone from LA screenwriters to New York Times bestselling authors.

Of course, if you’re a new teacher like me, there is one problem with providing mentor texts to my students: I have a dearth of middle school level writing sitting around in my file cabinets.

Fortunately, the Internet is full of sources, so I scoured the bowels of Google to find examples. I know how busy you are, so I’m sharing.

Expository writing examples for middle school

Below are several sources of expository writing samples for middle school students.

Finally, here is an article in the New York Times that will help you teach your students real-world expository writing skills.

Descriptive writing examples for middle school

Narrative writing examples for middle school

Argumentative/persuasive writing examples for middle school

Reflective writing examples for middle school

If you know of any other online writing example sources, please feel free to share them in the comments below.

I am a secondary English Language Arts teacher, a University of Oklahoma graduate student, and a NBPTS candidate. I am constantly seeking ways to amplify my students’ voices and choices.